Looking for a new way to reach out to corporate customers? Maybe Joyce Gubata of Leaf & Petal in Medfield, Mass., can help. About a year ago she started her "Welcoming Spaces" program, which aids in improving office atmosphere through floral decorations.

Companies that think their offices need more personality call Gubata, who goes to the office for a consultation. Once the company decides what it likes, she brings in a combination of fresh and permanent flowers and plants to lighten the mood. Prices run from less than $100 to more than $1,000, depending on what the company wants.

Gubata says an SAF study -- Flowers & Plants on Workplace Productivity -- inspired her to start the program, along with a desire to expand her corporate client base.

"I really leveraged SAF research," says Gubata, who uses the study's findings -- that the presence of flowers improves workplace performance and efficiency -- to help promote the program.

She also has found SAF research to be useful in helping others realize the power of flowers. During a talk she gave on the overall value of flowers as gifts at a networking group, she cited SAF's Flowers & Seniors Study, mentioning that giving flowers to the elderly helped improve mood, socialization, and memory, and that the best way to give flowers was as an unexpected gift. Directly after the presentation, one member of the group sent his grandmother flowers.

"He reported to the group at the next meeting that she was overwhelmed upon receiving the flowers and even cried," Gubata says. "She was so touched that he was thinking of her and took the time to do something for her."

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

 

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